Don't Forget
by dare.bear84
Summary: It's been over 4 years since Chloe has heard any sign of Simon or Derek, and she can't stop thinking about them... especially the green-eyed werewolf. Can she find a way to forget him? Does she even want to? My first fanfic! Read and reveiw please?
1. Chapter 1

_Heart beating, adrenaline__**pumping, my legs carried me through the dark woods as fast as they could go. The small, coherent part of my mind was shouting, **_**What the hell are you doing Chloe?! Running, all by yourself, through the woods at night? Are you on crazy?! **_**, while the rest of my mind was only thinking one thing: **_**Run**_**. I felt like I was in one of those action-adventure movies where the heroine ran from the men with large guns while some suspenseful music played. I was scared, and my being so frantic caused me to trip over various rocks and tree roots that were sticking up through the ground. One large tree root caused me to trip and fall flat on my face, and I just gave up on whatever mission I was on. I curled up in a fetal position and awaited whatever doom was to come. All I wanted was to close my eyes and rest for a while ....**_

_**"Chloe...", a familiar voice said. I immediately knew who it was.**_

_**Derek.**_

_**My eyes flew open and I quickly stood up. I looked around, but could only see a few trees that were lit up by the full moon. **_

_**"Derek ...? W-where are you?" I hesitantly asked.**_

_**A dark figure moved out of the corner of my eye, and I spun around to face it. Derek emerged from behind a tree about fifteen feet away from me. He was wearing muddy jeans and a ripped up white T-shirt. His anxious green eyes sent shivers up my spine. **_

_**"Are you okay, Chloe?" he asked, and made his way towards me. **_

_**"Y-yeah .... Are you?" I replied. He didn't answer. "D-derek? W-what's going on? Are you h-hurt?" I reached out and gently touched his arm. He jerked his arm away and stepped back. "Derek?"**_

_**His jaw tightened and he clenched his fist. "I'm sorry, Chloe", was all he said. His body faded away, and I was left with only the memory of his amazing green eyes as I found enough courage to turn around and get ready to face the danger approaching ...**_

** I jerked upright in bed with my sweaty blonde hair plastered to my forehead. The only light in my bedroom was from the moonlight spilling in through the window, and my alarm clock, which glowed the neon green time of 3:27 a.m. **_**Just a dream, it was just a dream,**_** my mind thought. My heart rate got back to normal. I had been having nightmares almost every night since the event with the Edison Group went down. They were always different from each other and probably had no meaning whatsoever, but they always left me terrified and panting when I woke up. **

** I decided to go get a drink of water, and made my way to my little kitchen. I had lived by myself in the one-bedroom apartment since I was eighteen. I had been attending the college down the street. I never thought that my life could go back to normal, and it hasn't, but I've managed to get in a nice routine and to separate myself from the 'genetically modified' business as much as I could. The 'adventures' that I experienced when I was fifteen had definitely left me a different person and had corrupted my innocent, naive mind, but I still held on tightly to the old me. Memories flooded back to me as I stared off into space in my kitchen ...**

_**-Flashback-**_

_**We had put an end to the Edison Group. We had also found Kit and many other supernaturals that had mysteriously disappeared. My aunt, unfortunately, had been announced dead. Everyone decided that it was best that I go back to my dad, but to visit Kit and some other doctors every other day to make sure that my powers didn't go out of whack .I was glad that when I went back to my dad, I would still be involved with the supernatural world, because I couldn't possibly imagine going back to my regular life and saying goodbye to all of the friends that I had made. And besides, it's not like I could forget about the supernatural world, I mean, I would still have the ability to raise dead things ... which wasn't always pleasant. **_

_**Kit, Andrew, Tori, Derek, and Simon were all dropping me off at where my dad was still living. They all climbed out of the van to say their goodbyes to me. **_

_**"Alright Chloe, so you have your story ready?" Kit asked. I needed to get my story as to why I had disappeared for those four weeks ready for my dad. **_

_**"Yep, I'm gonna tell him that I was upset and had run away, but I got to my senses and realized that it was best if I returned home," I replied. **_

_**Kit nodded. "Alright, that seems fine to me. And we'll keep in touch. Remember to visit me every other day. If for some reason that you're unable to get to me, I'll just come to you," he said as he handed me a folded piece of paper with his phone number and an address on it. He reached out and gave me a hug, and then stepped back for the others to say their temporary goodbyes. Andrew came up and simply gave me a pat on the back and said, "You're a great kid, Chloe". Tori hesitantly came up and stood in front of me, but then threw her arms around my neck. She sniffled and said, "Thanks for sticking up for me all this time, even after I was so mean to you. You're, like, one of my best friends, you know that right? Well, I'm gonna go live with my dad too, I think, so just call me, okay? Promise to keep in touch?" She slipped me a piece of paper with her number and email address. I couldn't help but smile as I promised her that I'd call her as often as I could. Simon hugged me next, and kissed me on the cheek, even after I specifically told him that I wasn't interested in him that way. He said a few things, and then slipped **_**another **_**piece of paper into my hand with his phone number and email address on it. I looked over at Derek and sighed. He stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the van. Over the last few weeks, we had gotten pretty close, and had even come very close to kissing each other. He acted as if nothing had ever happened though, and I hated that. I slowly walked over to him and then threw my arms around his large body, well aware that everyone around us had discreetly begun to look the other way and begin talking to each other. **_

_** "I'll miss you Derek ..." I whispered into his shirt. He put his arms around my small waist and said, "I'll miss you too. But it's not like we're never gonna see each other again. You're gonna be visiting my dad almost every day." I looked up at him and saw that he was smiling. I loved his smile. **_

_**They all piled back into the van and waved goodbye as I reluctantly jogged up to open the door to building that my dad and I lived in ....**_

_**-End Flashback- **_

** I sighed as I headed back to bed. After I returned home that night ,I had kept up my promise to visit Kit every other day so that he could check up on me. It went well for a while, and I had seen Simon and Derek all the time. About a year later though, my powers had become pretty stable and I had learned to control them, so I stopped visiting Kit so often. I didn't see Derek or Simon very often, but I would receive an email from Simon every now and then. Right before I graduated from high school, Tori, who I had stayed in contact with and was my best friend, informed me that Kit had died from heart failure, and both Derek and Simon had moved away. Back then, it had been several months since I even talked to Simon. It's been four years since then, I'm twenty-two now, and there's still been no sign from Derek or Simon. It was like they had either completely forgotten about me, or had fallen off of the face of the Earth. I decided it was best to just move on with my life and to forget about them, but that didn't work out too well. How could I forget them when I had nightmares about the Edison Group every night? And besides that, I missed them. Especially Derek. I thought about him all the time, and tons of memories about him flooded my thoughts every time I saw someone with green eyes, or watched a werewolf movie on TV.**

** After an hour or so of tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep, thinking of Derek, and wondering whether or not**_** I**_** ever crossed **_**his**_** mind ....**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Ohkayy, soooo I didn't mean to put the previous chapter in all bold. It looked so funky! Like I said, it's my first fanfic and I'm still learning the ropes. (: Hopefully this chapter isn't all funky looking :/**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing :(**

It was Saturday, and I was meeting Tori for lunch at our favorite little hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I stepped inside and saw that she had already gotten us a table and was flipping through the menu. When I sat down, she didn't even look up as she said, "It's about time you got here. I've been sitting in here for the last ten whole minutes! I tried calling you, but you didn't answer."

"Really? 'Cuz I didn't hear it go off ..." I said as I checked my cell phone. It had 'Fifteen missed calls' written across the screen. "Jeez, Tor! I was only ten minute late and you called me _fifteen_ times?"

"Umm, yeah?" She looked up at me for the first time since I got there. "Damn, you look like hell!"

"How considerate of you to compliment me Tori! You're so thoughtful!" I said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you even sleep at _all_?"

"Yep, I just ... had, umm, an-n-nother-"

"Another nightmare? God Chloe, do I need to send you to counseling or something? It's not normal for twentytwo-year-old women to have nightmares about Barney taking over the world every night."

"Hey! That only happened once, and you promised you wouldn't bring it up again!"

"Whatever, but ..." she paused for a moment and then continued talking in a more quiet and gentle voice. "What was the dream about this time, exactly?"

I bit my lip and then said, "Just about me running through some forest at night, and some people were chasing me or something, and-"

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter interrupted.

"Can't you see that we're talking?" Tori snapped. The waiter walked away, mumbling something under his breath. "God, people can be sooo rude sometimes!" Tori commented. "Anyways, Chloe, what were you saying?"

"I was saying that I was being chased in the middle of the night, and I was running through the woods, and Der-"

Tori's cell phone ringtone, which played the chorus of "Tik Tok" by Kesha, went off. "Hello?" she said into the phone. "Oh hey baby! What's up? ...Oh really? .... yeah, I'm having lunch with Chloe ... oh okay ... yeah ... oh, that'd be great! ... alright ... see you later ... love you too ... bye!" She closed the phone and looked over at me with an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry, that was Brian. He wants to have dinner with me tonight."

Brian was the guy that Tori had been dating for the past seven months. God bless his soul.

"Oh that's cool. What time?" I asked.

"Eight, and we're having dinner at The Overlook. Can you believe that?! There's a waiting list just to make reservations there! Anyways, what were we talking about?"

I didn't want to tell Tori about the fact that Derek was in my dream because she would nag me about it all day, so I tried my best to change the subject.

"We were talking about how rude waiters are these days," I said. That definitely changed the subject. She went on and on, and I tuned most of it out, but every now and then she would throw in a very powerful cuss word that would catch my attention.

****

When we were leaving the restaurant, Tori came up next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. I wasn't all that shorter than her, just about three inches, but since she was wearing her boots, she towered over me.

"You know, I've been thinking, and ..." she started.

"Oh no ..." I mumbled.

She looked down at me and said, "Did you say something? Oh, well anyways, I think that we need to get you into a nice, stable relationship."

My shoulders slumped.

"Tori,-"

"Now, now, now Chloe, I know what you're gonna say. You're gonna say that we've tried this before and it hasn't worked, but that's just because the guys you've been meeting are sooo not your type."

"Oh, so now I have a type, huh?"

She continued on as if I hadn't said anything. "You need someone ... someone with ... WHAM!"

"I was unaware that 'wham' was even an adjective," I said.

Tori stopped in her tracks and looked down at me with her hands on her hips. "You can either be cooperative with me Chloe Saunders, or I am going to have to be very nasty."

It's best to just let her do what she wants to, so I sighed and agreed to whatever she wanted me to do.

"Alright, so I met Brian's cousin Eric the other day, and I think you two would get along soooo well!" She saw me open my mouth to speak and quickly said, "Don't worry, he's single and isn't over fifty. He's twenty-five, is in the movie business, has his own house, and is tall, blond, and sexy." Tori wiggled her eyebrows.

"That's nice to know .." I rolled my eyes.

"Ugh, okay but the point is that I want us to go on a little double date tomorrow night: me and Brian, and then you and Eric. And don't even think about saying no, because you're going whether you like it or not."

"Well, if you put it t_hat_ way..."

Tori opened my car door for me and pushed me down onto the seat. "You'll have fun Chloe. It's about time that you actually did something with your life instead of worrying about the Edison Group reforming and coming after us or thinking about Simon and Derek." She closed my car door, waved goodbye, and walked over to her own car.

I was so mad, but mostly hurt that she would say something like that to me.

_She's right Chloe, move on ..._ my inner voice said.

I took a deep breath, started my car up, and drove back to my apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing ... *sigh***

Tori's dad had abandoned her right after she returned to him about seven years ago. He had wanted nothing to do with her, and with her not having any other family, the government had no choice but to put her into foster care. It wasn't long before she came upon a family that really and truly wanted her, and they officially adopted her. She now had two loving parents and three siblings. Even though she was now an adult, her parents let her live at home with them, and she attended the college down the street, the same one as me. It's not like she stood out from the family either. They were all dark-headed and tall. Tori even agreed to change her last name to theirs: Dane. Tori had said that she wanted to get rid of the last name Enright. She wanted to forget about her mom and the hell that she had gone through. I couldn't blame her.

****

On Monday, the day of our "double-date", Tori burst into my apartment around three, dragged me into her car, and took me to her house so that she could spend the next few hours playing dress-up with me. For hours. _Hours_.

We weren't even supposed to be meeting Brian and Eric until seven! At first, I didn't know why Tori would want to spend so much time as my stylist, but I soon found out why.

She made me try on dress after dress, shoe after shoe. She re-did my makeup countless times until she found the 'right look' for me, as she called it. Once she was done with me, she made me sit in her living room, away from all mirrors. She then spent about an hour or so on herself, and by that time, it was around six. Tori came back into the living room and found me chuckling and shaking my head as I watched 'Ghost Hunters'. She had on a little black dress- and by little, I meant_ little_- with some strappy, black high heels.

"Well, don't you look snazzy," I said as I turned the TV off. A flattered smile spread across her face. She spun around to let me get a view of her from all angles.

"You likey?" she asked.

"Yep, and I'm sure Brian will too ..."

Tori threw her head back and laughed. "Well, he better!" She turned serious again. "Alright Chloe, would you want to see yourself now?"

I bit my lip. Did I _really_ want to see myself now? Did I _really_ want to face the damage that Tori probably did to me? Don't get me wrong, Tori was very good when it came to makeup and fashion, but I had the feeling that she would go a little overboard with me tonight ... And I definitely didn't want to go out looking like a --

"Chloe? Ugh, why do you have such a worried look on your face?" she scolded me. She ran over, grabbed my hand, and pulled me off of the couch to go find a mirror. We ended up in front of her tall mirror that she had in her bedroom that allowed you to see your whole body.

There Tori stood, with her long, tan legs, curvy figure, and glossy black hair that waved down to her shoulders. She had big, brown eyes underneath her perfectly arched eyebrows, and then a pair of full lips that spread into a lip-glossed and confident smile. Very sleek, very sexy.

Then there was me. All 5'4'' of me. Tori had put me in black ballet flats- thank the Lord that I wasn't in five inch heels- along with a nice and conservative black dress that flowed to just above my knees. It was V-neck though, and Tori had made sure that I was wearing a lacy push-up bra before she started to dress me. Cleavage was certainly noticeable in that dress. The sleeves stopped right above my elbows, and I was thankful that I wasn't going to totally freeze my ass off. As for the hair and makeup, they were just as simple, and well, _me_, as the dress was. My blonde hair flowed in wavy ringlets all the way down to my elbows, and my blue eyes were framed by eyelashes that had just a small coat of mascara.

"So ... whatcha think?" Tori finally asked after I had examined myself.

"Tori, I-I ... I don't know what to say! I love it!"

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "Well, you know how I do."

Whenever standing next to Tori, I felt small and innocent and just so _ordinary_. But I knew that that was how I was. I didn't catch much attention from anybody; I was just so plain and dull. I had never really gotten the attention from any guys, well, except for ...

I looked at myself in the mirror for another time. Nope, I was definitely not a Tori. I was just a Chloe. But when I looked at myself in that black dress, I couldn't help but feel pretty. For the first time in a long time. There I was, going to go hang out with some random guy and pretend to laugh at his stupid jokes, pretend to be interested in what he's saying, and pretend that I actually care.

As Tori and I got into her car to meet Brian and what's-his-face, I wished that the one time I actually looked pretty, that the only guy that I would ever want to be with could see me.

** Alright, I know this chapter was kinda short, and I was planning to write more, but I just felt like leaving it there for right now. I also know that this story is kinda slow right now, but hang in theree !(: It won't be like this for long! I'm thinking of some Derek involvement soon ... haha but it will probably be another chapter or two ... sooo, we'll just have to wait and see :D**

** ------ Review ? ... oh pleasey please ? any questions, comments, snotty remarks ? ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm backk :) sorry that it took so long to update ... I'm so lazy! :/ but this chapter is pretty much double the length of the last chapter, sooo... hopefully it makes up for it ;)**

**and thankss to everyone who reviewed. yall make me happy :D**

**Disclaimer: the Darkest Powers belong to Kelley.... for now ..... ;)**

"We have class tomorrow, and I really don't wanna stay out too late, so ..." I said as we drove to the restaurant where we were meeting the guys.

"We won't be out that late. You'll have plenty of time to sleep and then get to class."

"B-but wouldn't you rather just have a girls night tonight? You know, we could get in our comfy jammies and eat junk food and not care if we get fat and watch Edward Scissorhands. I know how much you love some good ol' Johnny..."

"Nice try Chloe," Tori shot back.

"But it's Johnny! How can you say no to him?!"

"Although I think Johnny Depp is quite a studmuffin, I have my own guy: Brian. The same guy that we are on our way to meet. Along with his cousin, Eric. You're not getting out of this Chloe," she looked over and saw my face. "And don't give me that look either. You're acting like I'm making you eat your own toe nails."

"Eww, that's nasty, Tori! I think you've been spending way too much time with Brian. He has obviously put some nasty thoughts into your mind."

Tori smiled and mumbled something that I couldn't hear. "Come on, Chloe! We're gonna have fun! It's about time you loosen up a little. And besides, we're already here."

We pulled into a parking space in the restaurant's parking lot. I reluctantly got out of the car and began walking to the doors. Tori slapped my butt to get me to walk faster.

****

Tori looked around the swanky restaurant and waved to Brian once she found where he was sitting, which was in the back corner of the restaurant in a rounded booth. Once Tori and I got to the table, Brian stood up to hug Tori and let her scoot into the booth. He was tall and lean with messy styled light brown hair and some stubble on his face. He was wearing a stylish suit with his button-down shirt tucked out of his pants. A man stood on the other end of the booth. He looked a little younger than Brian, with a rounder and clean shaven face. His blond hair was styled practically the same way. He was wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the first few buttons undone, and a tie tied loosely around his neck.

_Eric._

He smiled at me and helped me into the booth. Tori took the chance to introduce us to each other.

"Chloe, this is Eric. Eric, this is Chloe. Alright, now that that's out of the way, feel free to talk or whatever the hell you two wanna do."

Eric chuckled and looked at me. "Well, it's nice to meet you Chloe. You look stunning, if you don't mind me saying so." He smiled and his hazel eyes sparkled. _He's kinda cute,_ I thought. _And he seems nice..._

"Oh, thanks," I said as I looked down to hide my blush. _Should I say something nice about him too? _"You have a nice... hair."

_'You have a nice hair?!' Seriously, Chloe?!_

Eric laughed and said, "Thanks."

I nodded and looked everywhere except at him.

****

Halfway through the meal, and everything was going surprisingly well. I was actually _enjoying_ myself. This wasn't the first double date that Tori had dragged me on, but it was the first one where my blind date wasn't some loser or psycho that Tori had found on the street. Brian and I had hung out together several times before because of Tori, and I had finally become comfortable around him after a while and had actually begun to like him. He was a good guy. And any guy who could put up with Tori's mood swings for seven months definitely earned brownie points in my book.

Eric was a lot like Brian, even though he was a few years older than him and looked younger than him. He was really easy to talk to. It turned out that he _wasn't_ in the movie business after all (Tori had lied about that), but instead he was studying to become a doctor. Which was just as cool.

After a while, I realized that he reminded me of Simon, and I suddenly stopped talking in midsentence. Memories flooded back to me: Simon introducing himself in the kitchen of Lyle House, watching Derek during his first partial-Change, being thrown down by the girl in the alley, meeting Andrew, finding out that Aunt Lauren was dead, realizing that I loved Derek...

And then more recent memories came to mind. Like the last time I saw Simon and Derek...

The sound of Eric clearing his throat jerked me out of my reveries. I noticed that everyone at the table was staring at me.

"Are you okay? You kinda just blanked out there for a second," Eric said.

"Umm, y-yeah. I'm fine. Sorry."

Once I confirmed that I was fine, Tori and Brian went back to their conversation, and Eric joined in to give me a few moments to myself.

I began to eat, but my flustered hands caused me to drop my fork. I slipped underneath the table to get it while no one was looking. I crawled around for a second and finally found my fork, and it was then that I looked up and saw Brian's left hand rubbing Tori's inner thigh.

I jerked up in surprise, which caused my head to bang very loudly on the bottom of the table.

"Are you okay?" I heard Eric say at the same time as Tori said, "Chloe, what the fuck are you doing?!"

I slithered back up into my seat while rubbing my head. "I dropped my fork. I'm okay though."

Tori shot me a look that said 'you better not make another scene, and if you do...'. I gulped.

_It's okay, Chloe. Just chill. _

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Umm, excuse me for a second. I need to go to the ladies' room."

Tori looked over at me and said, "I think I'll go with you Chloe," and then turned to the guys and said, "Just excuse us for a moment."

Once we got in the bathroom and Tori made sure that no one else was in there, she turned to me and said, "Alright, what's up with you? Everything was going perfectly normal for a change and then you get this blank look on your face and act like a vegetable.Then, you decide to play hide-and-seek _under the table_ on the _dirty fucking floor_, and- "

"Tori, chill. Okay, I admit that I was actually having a pretty good time, but then... "

"Did you see a ghost?" Tori's voice softened.

"N-no. I've been pretty good about blocking them out. It was just..." I sighed. I didn't want to tell her that I had been thinking about_ them_. About Andrew or Simon or Kit or Derek... Unlike me, Tori was very good about forgetting that chaotic time of our lives when we were always scared and didn't know who to trust. But not only was it a chaotic time of our lives, it was a _turning point_ in our lives. After everything that had happened, how could we possible go back to normal? I didn't see how. That was why it was so hard for me to get on with my life. It was hard for me to become comfortable around people and to trust them. Not only did I not trust a lot of people, but I found it hard for me to... _connect_ with them. They were normal; something that I never really was. When I returned back to my dad, I had involuntarily said goodbye to my supernatural family. The only people in the world who could ever really understand me and know what I had been through. When I stopped hearing from Derek and Simon, it just made everything worse. I felt like I had been abandoned. Tori and I were left all alone. With us not knowing where any other supernaturals where, we tried to go along without ever mentioning our powers unless necessary. Act as if we were normal. Tori was very good at that. I wasn't.

"It was just what?" Tori questioned after I never completed my sentence.

"Nevermind. It was nothing."

I think she realized where my thoughts were, and she looked away.

"Jesus Christ, Chloe," she mumbled. She looked in the mirror to fix her hair and straighten out her dress. "You know what? If you've had enough tonight, then I'll take you home. The guys will understand. And I appreciate you coming along. It at least proved that you could have _some_ fun."

"Did I even have a choice? I mean, you _did_ kinda drag me here, ya know?"

Tori smiled at the mirror. "I know."

On our way back to the table to tell Brian and Eric that we were leaving, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that sent shivers up my spine.

I spun around and saw her standing there, looking exactly the same as she did the last time I saw her four years ago: long blonde hair flowing freely down her back, her Minnie Mouse shirt, and giraffe socks.

_Liz._

She giggled, and then disappeared.

I gasped, abruptly spun around, and collided with a waiter who was carrying a whole tray of food. We both fell backwards and the food went flying. After the loud crash, the whole restaurant went dead silent and all eyes were glued on us. On me and my spaghetti-and-meatball covered self, strewn across the floor. After about five seconds of agonizing silence, Tori rushed over, grabbed my hand, and I made my walk of shame out of the restaurant as she ushered me to her car.

****

All I wanted to do was to wash the garlic-smelling spaghetti sauce out of my hair, and then to curl up in my bed and read a good ol' book. That was all I wanted.

_After a night like tonight, is that too much to ask for? I mean, I saw Liz. I hadn't seen her in four years. Why did she all of sudden pop up out of nowhere? And why did she disappear just as quickly as she appeared?_ I thought as I rubbed some vanilla bean body wash over my body in my shower. _And I think you found your most embarrassing moment tonight. Come on, Chloe. I always knew you were a klutz, but did you really have to knock over a freaking waiter? Gahh! _I fiercely shook my head to chase away the play-by-play of the waiter incident that was going on in my mind.

After I got out of the shower and changed into some Soffe shorts and a cami, I curled up in bed and began to read. _Ahh, a good book. Just what I need right- _The phone rang. _Dammit._

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Seven days..." a man's voice croaked out from the other end.

"Excuse me? Who is this?"

"That's for me to know, and you to-"

I hung up on them. I was _not_ going to deal with some stupid prank callers right now.

The phone rang again.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver again.

"Have you checked the children?" the same voice croaked again.

"Who the hell is this? And you have seriously got to work on your prank calling skills. You're not very creative."

The man laughed. _Where had I heard that laugh before ...? _"Thanks for the advice, Chloe."

_He knows my name. How. The. Hell. Does he know my name?_

"Who the fuck is this?"

He laughed that familiar laugh again. "If you want to find out who this is, then come to the door."

There was a knock at my apartment door.

"You must be out of your mind if you think I'm gonna-"

There was a knock again, but this time, it was louder.

"Come to the door Chloe."

I bit my lip.

And began to walk towards the door.

_Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Are you stupid? You've seen enough movies to know that this is _not_ a good idea!_

I hesitated. The little voice in my head was right, no matter how annoying it was.

But be honest. Had I ever really listened to it before? Not really. And I was still alive. So with that said...

With a shaky hand and pounding heart, I grabbed the umbrella that was resting by the door, slowly undid the locks, and opened up the door a tiny crack, just enough to peak through...

And I swear, what I saw standing before me was almost enough to make my heart stop.

"Simon?!"

**Oooooh! haha(: I originally planned for Derek to make his surprise appearance in this chapter, but I thought that Simon should pop up this way instead. Sorry guys! Derek should be on his way soon though! ;) **

**So tell me: did it suck? did it rockk ? Reviews are much appreciated! ;D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, I really and truly try to update sooner than I do, but as you can see, that doesn't work out too well. I've been so busy lately that it's not even funny :/  
oh! dude ohkay, so last night I went and saw Remember Me [you know, with Robert Pattinson ? ;) ] and it was absolutely amazing! one of the best movies i have everrr seen. no joke. overall, the movie was very funny as well as cute and romantic. robert pattinson did a much better job in this one than Twilight. and don't get me started on the ending.. i won't give any spoilers, but let's just say that you don't everrrr see it coming. aghhh i don't wanna give anything away, but right before the part happens, you find out what's going on and you'll know exactly what's gonna happen. (I know I don't make any sense right now, but you'll know what I'm talking about once you see it lol) I was seriously bawling my eyes out for the last five minutes of the movie and the entire ride home. In fact, I'm crying right now :( haha but yeah, if any of yall have seen it already, I'd loveeee to talk about it !(:**

**..... but *ANYWAYSS !(: I thinkk yall have waited long enough for this chapter, sooo ... well, here it is :D **

**Disclaimer: bum-bum-de-dum-bum ;; I still don't own ... :P**

* * *

Was I really seeing this?

He stood there, leaning against the frame of the door, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cell phone to his ear. From the infamous blond hair, to the dark almond-shaped eyes, to the wide smile, I knew instantly who it was. However, the last time I'd seen him, he had looked so young and innocent and welcoming. Now, although the friendly aura was still there, he just seemed more... tough? I guess he just grew up. His eyes showed that he had seen more than anyone else his age needed to see. Not to mention the bags underneath them that could have only been received from days without rest. The stubble on his face and his messy hair showed that he had more important things going on than shaving or combing.

Once I got past the thought of 'Ohmygosh that's really him', I started thinking 'What's he doing standing in my doorway?'.

"Simon?!"

His smile grew even larger as he placed his phone back into his pocket.

"How's it going, Chloe?"

I couldn't help it; I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Simon! It's you! It's really you!"

"Did you think I was a ghost or something?" he laughed. "Oh, and do you mind putting that umbrella away? I'm kinda scared you're gonna poke my eye out."

I stepped back, lowered my voice and said, "What are you doing here, Simon?"

He remained smiling, but his eyes hardened just a bit... but enough for me to notice. "What, you don't think I came here just to see you?"

"You _do_ know that it's been five years since you and Derek disappeared without any warnings or goodbyes, right? I don't think you'd just randomly drop by and say hi. I mean, it's not like you just woke up one morning in God-knows-where-ville and decided to somehow find out where I live and... and..."

"Chloe, I'm so sorry. I really, really am," his voice had dropped to a gruff whisper. "Will you let me in and let me explain? It's kind of a long story."

****

We sat on the couch with a can of Coke in our hands. I had no idea what his 'long story' was like, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know, but I needed to know the reason why he and Derek disappeared the way they did. The reason why Tori and I had been left feeling so confused and abandoned. There were some strong feelings running through my body as I had led Simon in to my apartment, ranging from happiness, to confusion, to resentment, to relief. The tears that were threatening to show themselves were not from sadness. Definitely not sadness.

"Alright, well... I'm not sure how much I should tell you..." Simon began.

"Just start from the beginning, and we'll go from there."

"Okay... well, I guess first off, do you have any questions? Ahh, wait, that's a stupid question."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it is." But then a really important question popped up; something that I hadn't even thought of since I saw Simon standing in my doorway. "Wait... Where's Derek? Is he okay? Is he here?"

"Yeah, he's okay. And no, he didn't come with me, but he's close by."

My eyes widened and I jumped up from my spot on the couch. "He's WHAT?!"

"Hold your horses, Chloe." He sighed. "I guess it'd be better just to start from the beginning..." He looked up at my still tense body. "Go ahead and sit down. He's not here, and he's not gonna pop out of nowhere and scare you anytime soon."

And so he began, telling me the other side of the story that I had never known. About five years ago, I had seen Simon and Derek every so often. We were still getting accustomed to our powers, as well as the normality of our lives. We gradually grew apart after a while, but I didn't know why. I tried to visit them, but they were never home. I tried calling and emailing them, but they never answered or replied. It was around then that Tori had found Kit's name in the obituary and heard that Simon and Derek had moved away. It turned out that Kit had actually died, but not from the heart failure that had supposedly taken his life. As Simon and I sat on the couch, he told me that Kit, Derek, and him had been in hiding when Kit and Andrew had been killed by members of the re-formed Edison Group. He and Derek had ran away after they witnessed the whole thing. They didn't tell me or Tori because the Edison Group wasn't after us. They were only after Kit and the other ex-members of the group who had led the attack on them.

The boys fled to different states for the next couple years, not sure of what to do or who to go to. About three years ago, they came across a sorcerer in Tennessee who had been friends with Kit many years ago. He knew all about the Edison Group, so they told him what happened to their dad and Andrew, and the man let them stay with him. He introduced them to a secret supernatural community that was located just outside of Nashville. It was only recently that they heard news of the Edison Group trying to track down all of the subjects from their experiments. The boys and Devin, the sorcerer who had become a father figure to them, left to go find Tori and me. With a bit of research, they were able to find where each of us lived, and they had planned to come to our homes tomorrow.

"Wow," was all I could say once he was done. "Simon, I'm so sorry about your dad and Andrew."

"Thanks," he whispered. "After everything that we've been through, I thought that I couldn't hate the Edison Group more than I already did. But I was wrong. I didn't even know what hate was until I saw them put that bullet through my dad's head."

I tried to soothe him by rubbing his back, and his tense muscles relaxed a bit. "You shouldn't have seen that. You didn't do anything to deserve losing your dad like that..."

He sighed for the millionth time. "I know. Well, enough about my story. What's been up with you? How are you and Tori?"

"We've been okay. We try to live our lives as normal as we can. When you and Derek left, it was like we were abandoned, and we didn't know what to do. I've thought about you and Derek every single day for the past five years. I've really missed you, and Tori has too, even though she doesn't like to admit it."

"I'm really sorry Chloe. I know that no matter how many times I say it, it won't change the past, but that doesn't stop me from feeling so guilty about leaving you guys like that. We just didn't want to take you from your families and schools and futures... We didn't want to put you guys through so much chaos again. You deserved to stay here and live your normal lives. But I guess that didn't work out as planned, did it? Not if you and Tori were hurt so badly. And believe me, it wasn't easy for me and Derek to leave you here, especially without any goodbyes. But we just acted on impulse and did what we thought was best, without really thinking it through... We just ran. We traveled to different states and lived in different motels. We didn't know if anyone was after us or not. After I look back and think about it, if it was so bad that we had to run away without looking back, we should have taken you and Tori with us, or at least stayed here, or.. or something. I mean, if people were going to be looking for us, what would stop them from looking for you too? Aghh, I don't know; it doesn't make sense, but the past is the past, and we can't change anything. All we can do is live for the moment and do the best that we can."

"That's really deep. Have you gone all Buddha on me while you were gone?"

Simon laughed. "Shut up," he said as he threw one of the couch pillows at me.

"Hey! Alright, back to business... Did you say that the Edison Group is after their subjects from their experiments?"

His face turned serious again. "That's what we've heard. That's what made me and Derek come back all of a sudden... We've been doing research and stuff, and Devin's pretty tight with people in our little supernatural world, and we've managed to find some pretty powerful people that will be able to help us when or if the time comes. In fact, Derek, Devin, and I met with a couple of them tonight, and that's what made me go ahead and come over to your house tonight. We saw you and Tori there at the restaurant ... Speaking of, are you okay? You sure hit the ground pretty hard when you fell."

"YOU SAW THAT?! YOU WERE THERE?!"

"Yep! I didn't even recognize you two at first, but I knew it was you once I saw you fall," he smiled.

I didn't know what to say. They were there, and I didn't even know about it? "S-so D-derek saw me too?"

"Ahh, I see that you've still got that cute stutter," he chuckled. "But yeah, he saw you. He was the one to point you guys out to me. He pointed over at you two and said that you smelled familiar, and then five minutes later he said that you guys smelled like Chloe and Tori. After that, he became really tense and stared at you guys the whole time."

So Derek saw me? And I didn't even know he was there?! And he must have seen me with Eric... oh good Lord.

"Where's he now?"

Simon grinned. "Why don't I just take you to him?"

* * *

**I must say that this chapter was really difficult to write, because I wasn't quite sure how Chloe should have reacted. And even after revising it like 500 million times, the chapter still seems a bit off, so I'm sorry if Chloe's reaction to seeing Simon and finding out his side of the story wasn't how you pictured it. But anyways, anyone looking forward to the next chapter ? I know I am ;)**

**Pleaseeeeee* review and tell me what you thinkk ? And if you have any suggestions or ideas for the story, I'd love to hear it !(: ..review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Again, I'm sorry for the long wait. Writer's block really and truly sucks. :( But I just got off for spring break, so I'll hopefully be able to put up some more chapters within the week. And plus, I think this chapter will make up for the wait, err well hopefully. And I think we all know what happens on April 6th !!(: I'm so happy and as a bonus, I will be on spring break (duhh) when it comes out, so I can sit in my room and read all day and do whatever I damn well please :D Oh, and I *will continue with this story even after The Reckoning is released. And thanks for the reviews! Some of yall left some really good suggestions and I'll be using them later on in the story ;) Hmm, I guess that's enough blabbering...**

**Disclaimer: Blah Blah Blah, I don't own, Blah, Blah, Blah. **

It took me forever to pick out what to change into - because I couldn't really go in Soffe shorts and a cami - and even longer to do my hair. I mean, I was finally going to see Derek: the guy I had been dreaming about and missing and yearning for like crazy during the past several years. I knew Simon was waiting though, so I hurried as best as I could and settled for a jean and sweater combo.

After locking up my apartment, I followed Simon to a sleek, black car that was parked two blocks away.

"Going for the James Bond look, I see?" I said to Simon as we climbed in.

"Devin pulled some strings and somehow was able to get both me and Derek our own cars for free. I know, it's crazy," he said as he caught my mouth drop. "I thought that I might as well get something cool, right? And it needed to be something that looked good undercover, 'cuz well, we _are_ kinda like spies, you know? Just a bunch of supernatural spies," he joked and winked at me as he pulled out onto the dark and quiet street.

I laughed along and then said, "So... where_ is _Derek?"

"We've been staying with some friends of Devin's for the past week or so. They have a really nice house with plenty of room, so they didn't have a problem with letting us crash there for a while."

"Why didn't Derek just come along with you to my place?"

Simon fidgeted. "He said that it would be better if I went by myself instead..."

"What? Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask him that. He just told me that it was time that we told you that we were here and about the Edison Group and stuff." He pulled out his cell phone and began to text a message to someone.

"You know that texting while driving is dangerous, right?"

"Only if you don't know what you're doing. I, however, am an expert at texting. Therefore, it is safe for me to text while driving."

"I'm gonna laugh when we have a head-on collision."

"No you won't. You'll be badly injured or even dead," he pointed out.

_Gee, that's nice._

"Speaking of, Zombie Girl, how's it been going with the ghosts and stuff?"

I shrugged. "It's okay. I've been able to tell when someone is a ghost or not, and I have been able to keep my powers under control and not raise anything... Well, that I know of," I said as I shivered at the last part.

Simon nodded and said, "I'm sure you haven't, Chloe. You would know if you did."

I thought back to the nights years ago where I would wake up and have a rotting corpse crawling its way towards me. Simon was right; I _would_ know.

He jolted me out of my nightmares when he said, "Alright, we're here!"

We pulled into the driveway of a grand, two-story house that was set in a modern suburban neighborhood. No one would ever suspect that the people inside of it were supernaturals that were hiding from an evil group of scientists that were dead set on experimenting and eventually killing them.

Nope. No one would ever suspect a thing.

--------

DPOV

I counted how many steps I took as I paced back and forth in the bedroom that I had been sleeping in for the past week.

_565, 566, 577..._

I had seen her. After all this time, I had seen her again. She looked even more beautiful now than she had when she was fifteen, if that was even possible. Her once again soft, strawberry-blonde hair framed her delicate face and cascaded down to her small waist. Those big blue eyes still held the gentleness and sincerity as they had before, but now they had seemed awkward and timid instead of courageous and fearless. And then there was her smell. That hypnotic scent that I could track from miles away. I was surprised that it had taken me so long to realize that she was there in the same building that I was, not even thirty feet away.

_613, 614, 615..._

She was there with a guy. A decent-looking guy, too, I'll give him that. He had looked at her with interest, and she had seemed like she was enjoying herself. I shouldn't have been surprised though. I mean, did I expect her to not have any sort of relationship with any human being of the male species? She was a young woman with both beauty and brains, so someone was bound to snatch her up at some point. I shouldn't have felt such hatred towards the lucky man, or possessiveness towards Chloe. I had no right to feel such way or have such thoughts. She was never mine to begin with.

_643, 644, 645..._

Tori was there as well. She had seemed more comfortable than Chloe had though. I was sort of happy that Tori and Chloe had stayed in contact over these years. It gave them a connection with another person, something that our kind would never truly have with anyone else outside of our hidden world...

When Dad and Andrew were killed, Simon and I were forced back onto the streets. It was an act out of instinct; we didn't really think of what we were doing until we did it. We had tried to get as far away as we could. Countless hotel rooms and cheap food and clothes were passed getting old by the time we found Devin. He had treated us so well and done so much for us that we could never be able to repay him. At first I had felt like a big burden to the man who always put himself last, but then I found out that his wife and three kids- two boys and a girl- had been killed by the Edison Group. He was so lonely and drowning in such a depression that Simon and me being there was actually helping him instead of inconveniencing him. Simon and I had lost a dad, and Devin had lost his whole family, so it was only a matter of time before we came together like a puzzle and created a new family. Our lost loved ones could never be replaced, but that didn't mean that we couldn't move on and make best of what we could.

_700, 701, 702... _

Even though my life was good again- or as good as it could be under the circumstances- there wasn't a day that passed that I didn't think of what I had left behind. Chloe. I felt guilty for leaving without a word, and hoped she understood. I hoped that she was taking care of herself, or at least had someone who was. In the past, I had always been there was she was in danger. I was always there to protect her or to stop her from doing something stubborn and stupid. If there was something with danger written all over it, Chloe would always be able to find it.

_733, 734, 735..._

Simon was probably talking to her this very minute. After seeing her at the restaurant- _Which ended in a very clumsy stumble, something that would only happen to Chloe,_ I laughed to myself- I knew that it was the right time to tell Tori and Chloe that Simon and I were back, and of the Edison Group looking for us once again. I didn't know if it was totally true, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I had to protect Chloe.

_Beep beep._

My cell phone signaled with the annoying sound that I had a text message.

It read:

_Hey bro! I got a surprise for you! ;)_

_-S_

I thought, _Good God, what has he done now?_ The last time he had said that, I ended up covered in purple paint and feathers. I would rather not go into specifics.

I replied with:

_Simon, if there is any possibility that I will get mad once I get this 'surprise', then use your common sense and not even think about it. _

I had just sent it when I heard Simon's car pull into the driveway. _Here we go_, I thought. _Be prepared for anything._

"Derek! Get down here!" I heard him yell up the stairs.

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see it, and decided to humor him and do what he said.

I was starting down the stairs when I smelt it. It was _the_ smell. My nostrils flared and my heart began to race as my suddenly sweaty body trudged its way down. The stairs twisted and I was able to see the front door. Right in front of it stood a smiling blond asian and a petite blond.

_Dammit, Simon!_

--------

CPOV

He was making his way down the big staircase when he saw me and stopped in his tracks. He stood there right in front of me, and he was as frozen as I was.

He was even taller than he was the last time I'd seen, so I was guessing maybe around six and a half feet tall. His black hair was still shaggy, but it didn't cover his eyes, those brilliant green eyes. If Derek hadn't looked like a full grown man when he was sixteen, he certainly did now. There wasn't a single bump on his clear and angular face, and his wide shoulders led down to his muscular body that was clothed in a very flattering T-shirt and faded baggy jeans.

_It's actually him!_ _I'm not dreaming this!_ I thought to myself.

My inner voice had second thoughts, so I decided to inconspicuously pinch myself. I winced at the hard pinch I gave myself, and I was still standing in front of Derek with Simon by my side, so I was definitely not dreaming.

"Are you okay?" Derek said and broke the silence.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you okay? You just winced."

"Oh. Yeah, it was nothing, I just... Oh nevermind."

And then it was back to the awkward silence. Derek was standing right in front of me, I finally had my chance to say everything I've been wanting to tell him for the past several years, and yet nothing would come out of my mouth. I didn't even move.

I finally cleared my throat, took a few steps forward, and said, "Hey Derek."

"Hey Chloe," he huskily said as he closed the distance between us. I wrapped my tiny arms around him as he did the same to me and rested his head in my hair.

I sighed to myself and thanked whoever was listening.

**Sooo, did yall like itt ? Tell me whatcha think ! Tell me what you* think should happen! ;)**

**Doo-doo-doo-doo life's good. Now review! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back! (Finally!) haha, and again, I'm really sorry about taking so freaking long! Yall have been so nice and patient that it's kinda creepy :D But yeah, my school year ended last Friday, so I have tonsss of time to write now! I love summer! Oh, and thanks to those who have reviewed, and to **Jamie Kay Huntt **for suggesting a steamy Chlerek scene getting interrupted by Chloe's dad :O Lol, I'll do my best. And again, I'm up for any other suggestions or ideas!**

**Disclaimer: Life is like a box of chocolates because I don't own Darkest Powers, but I love chocolate :)**

The three of us all sat on one of the couches in the living room. Simon caught Derek up on what he had told me, and we talked a bit more. It still seemed like a dream to me. There I was, sitting in between Simon and Derek, just like old times. It was weird though because they looked so different. They weren't just scared, genetically altered teenage boys anymore. They were genetically altered men who knew how to work their strong powers. Well, Derek's powers were strong. Simon on the other hand still had some trouble with the spell-casting stuff.

Derek told me that he had finally completed his Change long ago, and his wolf senses were stronger now that he had fully completed it. He said that he still couldn't control when he Changed, but he was working on Changing when _he_ wanted to, instead of when his body did.

"I can't believe that I wasn't there for your complete Change. I wish I had," I told Derek.

"Well, you shouldn't. It wasn't very pretty," he grimaced. "And besides, you didn't miss all that much. I turned into a wolf, big whoop." Anyone else would have thought that it didn't matter to him that I wasn't there, just like he said. However, I wasn't just anyone else. I knew him, and I knew when he tried to make light of something so that no one would worry over him. His words said one thing when his eyes said another. Those green eyes said it all: that he had been scared and in tons of pain. He had wanted me there with him.

"And," he continued, "God only knows what would have happened to you if you were there..."

"You wouldn't have hurt me," I replied with no waver in my voice, because I knew it was true.

Derek held my gaze with a look in his eyes that was so... indescribable. The fluttering feeling in my stomach that I hadn't felt in years returned to me, and so did that emotion that I could never put a name to. Only this time, I knew what that emotion was.

Derek and I broke our gaze as Simon exclaimed, "Well, look who's here!"

_Leave it to Simon to ruin our moment._

I turned my head towards the living room where a man, woman, and young girl stood.

"Chloe, these are the owners of this lovely house who let us stay with them for a while. Sam Quincy, his wife Violet Quincy, and their daughter Becky. Sam, Laura, and Becky, this is Chloe Saunders," Simon introduced.

I stood up to shake the man's hand as he said, "Hello Chloe. It's nice to meet you," and the woman said, "We've heard so much about you."

"Oh really?" I asked as I pointedly looked at Simon and Derek.

Violet, the woman, laughed. "Only good things, don't worry."

"Okay, well in that case, it's nice to meet you too."

Violet laughed again. They seemed like a nice family. Sam was a short, balding man with a dark beard. Violet was a plump blonde woman that was about the same height as her husband. Their daughter Becky looked about ten years old with her long, dirty blonde hair in pigtails, and her tall and bony frame.

"Does Chloe know about what's going on?" Sam asked Simon and Derek.

"Yeah, we told her about the Edison Group coming back and stuff. She knows to be careful," Simon replied.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "This situation shouldn't be taken lightly. I suggest that Chloe is looked after by you two. As well as the Enright girl, of course."

My thoughts suddenly took a different path. _Tori._ As selfish as it sounded, I had barely thought of her at all since I got there. Nevertheless, natural instinct kicked in and I corrected Tori's name for her.

"Her last name's Dane now. Tori Dane."

"I thought something was up when we tried to look her up and we couldn't find her," Simon said while slowly nodding. "Why did she change her name?"

I heard Derek scoff, as if the answer was obvious.

_Same old Derek._

"I'll tell you in the car," I said while gathering up the few things that I brought in with me.

"Wait, where are we going?" Derek questioned.

I sighed and turned to face the brothers. I held my head up high and feet firmly planted on the ground, knowing that they weren't going to be thrilled with my plans.

"It's time that you tell Tori, too."

"Damn, that must have really sucked," Simon commented after I told him and Derek about how Tori became a Dane.

"Yeah, but it all worked out in the long run. Tori really does belong with the Danes. She's happy. I guess that when one door closes, another one really does open," I replied. "Oh, take a left at the traffic light."

Derek sat behind the wheel of his car - a gray little Ford Escort, which was like a completely different species compared to Simon's 'spy car' - with me in the passenger seat, being the navigator to Tori's house. Simon sat in the back, but might as well have been seated between Derek and I with all of the jumping around and leaning-forward-without-his-seatbelt that he was doing.

I texted Tori to tell her that I was on my way, not even mentioning Simon and Derek. I didn't want her to freak out or run away while she had the chance. I also didn't want to wake her whole family by barging in at two in the morning with two men they had never met before, for that would probably not work out too well, but I figured that we would find a way around that once we got there.

_What the fuck do you think you're doing? It's 2 a.m. I don't take booty calls from girls at this time of night. Try again later. _

I rolled my eyes at Tori's reply to the text message I had sent her, and tried again.

_Tori, I'm serious. This is important._

I again thought about her family waking up to Tori's screams once she sees the two surprises I was bringing her, and decided to add one more sentence to the message before I sent it.

_Can you meet me at the Waffle House on Wright Street?_

I thought about all of the public places that would be open at this hour, and decided that Waffle House would be our best bet. I didn't want the cops to start questioning us if they saw the four of us at the local park.

It took Tori a bit longer to reply than last time, but I was glad once I got the message.

_Fine. I'll meet you there. But whatever you need to tell me better be good if I'm gonna ruin my beauty sleep to drive across town to some cheap, greasy ass food joint for truckers. _

I smiled to myself. I could already see Tori stumbling out of bed in her revealing sleepwear towards her makeup bag, mumbling something about being sleep deprived and needing new friends.

I informed Derek of the change of location. "Take a right. Then, go through the next two traffic lights. There should be a Waffle House on your left."

Simon, Derek, and I were seated at a table in the back corner of the restaurant, far away from any other people. There weren't that many people there to begin with - a greasy cook, a waitress with way too much makeup, a few truckers, a tired looking couple, and a middle-aged man who was drunk as can be - but we didn't want to risk being heard.

The waitress walked up to our table, her yellowed teeth smacking away at her gum, and asked what we would like to eat.

"Can I get ya anything, darlin'?" she managed to purr to Derek while practically shoving her huge chest into his face.

"Just some pancakes, please. What would you guys like to eat?" Derek said, directing the waitress' attention to Simon and me. We told her our order, and she wrote it down with a pen that she pulled out from somewhere in her badly dyed red mane that reeked of hairspray. She barely looked at Simon and me, and I kept waiting for her to make some suggestive comments to Derek about 'him trying her pancakes' or something gross like that.

I heard the door to the restaurant open and the night air blow in. I turned to see a tall girl with a slim yet curvy figure and a head of disheveled black hair trudge in, wearing gray sweat pants and a T-shirt that I had bought for her last year.

"Tori! Over here!" I called out to her.

She looked over at me and did a double take. There were very few times where I had ever seen Tori caught off guard or surprised, and at that moment, she looked the most caught off guard and surprised that I had ever seen. I could picture what she was seeing: little ol' me, my eyes begging her not to freak, sitting across from a blond asian guy with stubble and a goofy, lop-sided grin, and a tall, dark-headed man made out of muscle, sarcasm, and a whole lot of temper.

She did her best to gain her composure, looked around to make sure that no one else saw her falter, and strutted her way over to our table. She stood right in front of it with her jaw tense and her eyes blazing. She eyed Simon and Derek, and then looked over at me.

"Chloe, do you mind telling me why you're seated in a Waffle House at 2:30 in the morning with the Asian Harry Potter and a fairly large Fido?" Tori said with sarcasm smothering her words. Her expression looked very calm, but her eyes looked like they were seconds away from shooting out lasers beams.

"Tori, just calm down. Why don't you sit down and eat with us? Simon and Derek will explain everyth-"

"To hell they will! Do you realize that they've been gone for what, four years? Five years? Yeah, and not a single word from them. _Not a word!_ Yeah, that shows that they're cared for us a lot! Hell, they're probably only here because they need something from us! And you agree to whatever the fuck they say and do whatever the fuck they want you to do because you're just that fucking nice! But you know what? I'm not! So that's why I'm gonna take you home right this second. I won't even cuss them out, because I'm not even gonna waste my breath for those sons of bitches!"

There was a moment of silence. I stood up next to her. "Sit down, Tori."

The waitress chose that moment to deliver our food to us. She hesitated for a moment, but then stretched around Tori and I in the tight space to place our food down. She then winked at Derek and walked away.

Once she was gone, Tori took a deep breath, looked at me one more time, and then looked down at the table. "Fine. Just let me go to the bathroom first," she mumbled, and then trudged her way into the girls' room.

**Whew! That's my second longest chapter so far! Hope yall liked it! Alright, and in honor of Chloe, I gotta ask this: What's your favorite movie and why? What's your favorite line from a movie? I gotta say that one of my favorite lines is from the Lion King (shut up, I already know I'm a dork) and it's when Nala finds Simba and Timone says: "Let me get this straight. You know her, she knows you, but she wants to eat him. And, everyone's ... okay with this ?" Haha, I just thought that was funny :D**

**Okay, my pretties. Review, review, review! Or I'll get you and you're little dog too!**


	8. Chapter 8

**It's not -.. It couldn't possibly be.. There's no way.. Ahh, but.. It is (:**

**Yep, after almost 8 months, I'm finally back. So much has happened. I'm not even gonna waste time with going into detail, or stop and tell you my excuses for disappearing. That's not the point. The point is that I'm back !(: One of my New Year's resolution was to start writing again. But let me tell ya, I can't even remember the last time I sat down and wrote something that wasn't school related. So I might have lost my touch. Let's hope not. But I WILL get back into the swing of things.. eventually. (:**

**Soo uhm.. where were we..?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own..**

I lay in Tori's bed, looking up at the ceiling. Thinking.

Thinking of the past several hours and processing it all with a feeling of resolve, and yet at the same time, even more curiosity. Simon and Derek had explained everything to Tori at Waffle House as they had with me. When she came out of the bathroom after her rampage over the boys being there, she was a complete stone. She sat there, unflinching, unwavering, giving away not a single hint at what was going through her mind. After a while though, and I'm not quite sure as to what did it, but Tori broke.

Her stone walls built around her cracked, and her emotions leaked through, as did her tears. She didn't even run off to hide while she sobbed. She just put her head in her hands while the river of grief and sorrow flooded out from her broken stone wall. God knows how long it had been since I had seen Tori cry. She had always been so strong through everything. The truth be told though, her sadness that she refused to let out had built and built, and it was finally being released.

Derek and Simon left the table to let us have some privacy as Tori sobbed and I rubbed her back, and not once did she push me away. When she was finished, her body sagged and went limp, as if the tears that she shed had taken her strength along with them. She wiped her red, swollen looking eyes and I continued to soothe her. "It's okay," I whispered. She turned and buried her head in my shoulder as she wrapped my arms around me, portraying a very rare sign of affection. "It's okay," she whispered back.

Tori's cat, Fergie, jumped onto the bed and shook me out of my memories. Derek hadn't wanted me to sleep alone in my apartment, so we had all decided that I go and spend the night at Tori's place, just as a precaution.

The bedroom door swung open, and in walked in Tori Dane herself, carrying a tub of ice cream and two spoons. She gave no sign of her breakdown that she had earlier, and I was glad. Tori wasn't supposed to break. She was supposed to be the strong, outspoken one. The one who didn't let anything bring her down. If Tori of all people broke, then what about the rest of us? What about me? Did that leave me as the strong one? I didn't think I could handle that.

Tori plopped down onto the bed with the ice cream. She took the top off of the tub and offered me a spoon before she dug in. There's nothing like eating a bunch of ice cream at four in the morning with your best friend to heal the soul.

We stayed silent for a while, neither of us saying a word, until Tori spoke up and said, "So they're really back, huh?"

"Yeah.. they're really back," I replied.

She paused before she spoke again. "I don't.. I don't think I'll ever forgive them for leaving us behind though."

I paused as well before I responded. "They weren't thinking, Tori. They-"

"We were a family!" she interrupted. "We protected one another. We stuck together. We had each other's backs. And look what they did. It just goes to show that when it all comes down, all they care about is each other."

"That's not true, and you know it. Back at Lyle House and when we escaped, I used to think that they were only in it for each other too. I thought for a little while when we got separated at the warehouse, that they were never coming back for us. But I was wrong about that, 'cuz look what happened. They came back for us, and they stayed with us through everything. We_ are _a family, Tori. Families are gonna have their issues. But we're together now, and that's all that matters."

I knew that Tori had warmed up to Simon and Derek, but I had never realized how much she actually liked them and cared for them. They were her family. They were some of the few people who had stood by her through tough times. She had never had many people in her life, but she had us. And she had been hurt when two of the few people she had ever had, had left her. More so than she had shown it.

Tori pursed her lips. "Maybe you're right. But that's _not_ all that matters right now. Does the Edison Group ring a bell to you?"

"So.. you really think they're back? That they're after us again?" I said as my voice grew quiet.

She lay back on the bed, as if the subject change had worn her out. "I don't know, Chloe. It's possible.. I wouldn't be surprised if they really are back again. The whole idea is kinda sketchy though, but.."

She rolled over to look at the clock and sighed.

"We better hit the hay soon," she said.

I didn't object.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

We were laying in her bed with the lights out and Fergie curled up in between us. It had been a long day. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't sleep. Who could blame me? Old friends and old loves had returned; old wounds had been open back up; old fears that I thought I was through with, had somehow found me again. I had spent the past several years being reassured that we were through with the Edison Group; that they were never going to bother us again. That they were no more. And now, with hearing the news that the organization may just be after my friends and I again, I didn't want the possibility to be true. I wanted to be reassured again that they were no more, but I had found no reassurance from anyone so far..

I sighed and rolled over again for the thousandth time.

"Can't sleep?" I heard from the witch beside me.

"Not at all.." I sighed.

"Same here," she said as she rolled over towards me and tried to readjust her pillow. She pet the feline that was snuggled up next to us. At least _one _of us was getting a good night's rest. "Well, your lover boy's back. How are you gonna handle that?"

Of course, it was only sooner or later before the subject of Derek would come up.

"I don't know, Tori. I really don't.."

"Hey, don't sound so defeated like that. Did you even see the way he was looking at you tonight?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"I _mean_ that he was looking at you with this look in his eyes.. He adores you, Chloe. It's obvious."

I couldn't believe it. Could Derek really feel anything like that towards me? Even before he had disappeared, I could never figure out his true feelings. He never gave anything away.

"W-well maybe he..," I sighed. "You really think that he.. you know.. _likes _me.. like that?"

"To be honest, I think he _loves_ you," she came out and said. My breath caught. Tori noticed my surprise. "Think of it this way. The guy was gone for years. It doesn't look like he forgot about you at _all_. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought about you every single day while he was gone. It-" Tori froze and stopped in midsentence. "Did you hear that?" she whispered.

"Huh? Hear w-wha-"

"Shh!" she held up a hand, telling me to be quiet as she stayed frozen, and her eyes distant.

It was then that I heard it. A creaking. A couple thumps. Coming from inside the house.

My eyes bulged open. "There's-"

"SHHH!" she did again.

She slowly got up and tip-toed to the door, not making a sound. I knew what she was thinking: her adoptive family that was sleeping safe and soundly in their bedrooms throughout the hall. She went to check on them. I stood up, on guard for anything to happen. Fergie had woken up and was by my side, her fur puffed up all around her. She obviously knew something was up.

A burglar? The Edison Group? A member of the Dane family getting a glass of water? Our imagination?

Possibilities ran through my head.

I heard a scream that was quickly cut off. _Tori. _

I ran down the hall and towards the stairs, where I heard the scream come from.

My mind was thinking too fast for even me to keep up with it. _Oh God, what if _they _took her? What if she's dead? What about her family? What if I'm running towards my own death?_

I was met halfway down there stairs by a dark figure, and my adrenaline kicked in, making me wave my arms around and throw a few punches, trying to fight off the intruder.

"What the- _Chloe_," followed by a few choice words came out of the dark figure's frame.

"T-tori?" I said as I stopped waving my arms around like an idiot. "Are you okay?"

My eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and I could make out Tori rubbing her jaw.

"What do _you_ think? Fucking Taz the Tazmanian Devil was just set loose on me."

A very large figure came into view a few feet behind Tori, and I was about to scream when Tori covered my mouth and whispered, "Don't you even start. It's _Derek_."

He came closer, and I was able to see that it _was _our beloved werewolf. The look on his face, however, told that he wasn't here to join the slumber party.

Before I could even ask what he was doing, he said, "Throw a bag together, and let's go. We gotta get out of here. _Fast_."

Something clicked in my head. My eyes widened for the thousandth time that night, and my heart rate accelerated faster than it had in a long time. I wasn't seeing anything, for my eyes had gone distant, and memories and thoughts flooded through my mind. I couldn't hear anything, for the blood pounding in my ears drowned everything else out. It wasn't until I received a tug on my arm from Tori that I woke up and did what instinct told me to do._ Run_.

I ran back up to Tori's room, threw my things back into my bag that I had brought over there, and headed back towards the stairs. I found Tori in front of her parents' bedroom, with her hand paused on the doorknob.

"It's okay," I whispered. "They'll be okay. Derek will make sure of it."

She was still frozen, debating on what she should do.

"The only way they'll be safe is if we get out of here as fast as we can. It's us that's being hunted down. Not them," I said with confidence.

Tori seemed to realize the truth in what I said, gathered up her strength, and made herself walk away from the door.

We found Derek down in the foyer, his foot impatiently tapping away. He sighed with relief when he saw us.

"Are-are they.." I began to ask. My mind wasn't connecting with my mouth.

Derek nodded, knowing what I was going to ask.

"They're coming."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Sooo.. what do you think? Should I even continue? Review, and tell me what you think, please. (:**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for all the reviews! I've decided to continue (: and I'm trying to get with the program and keep up with my New Year's Resolution about updating within a reasonable amount of time... Who knew it would be so hard. **

**Disclaimer: aaaand I still don't own.**

I looked out of the car window, staring at the sleepy, innocent town before me. Would this be the last time I saw the area that I've come to love? Would this be the last night where I had a chance to sleep in a warm, cozy bed with a roof over my head? Would I ever see my dad again? Would I live to see the next sunrise?

Questions like these could never be answered when you're on the run.

The uncertainty of everything, the running while blindfolded feeling... I hated it. I wanted answers, and I wanted to know what the future held for everyone. Of course, there were no absolute answers. The only thing certain was that you had to keep running and hiding, and hope that whatever was chasing you never caught up...

The ringing of Derek's cell phone caused me to jump and bang my head on the inside of the car. Tori's snickers were heard from the seat behind me. I turned to give her a look, which only caused her even more joy. I turned back around and saw Derek eyeing the caller ID.

"Hello?" he said, and then paused while he listened to whoever called. I looked over his face, memorizing every angle of it. _How many times had I thought of that face? Seen it in my dreams?_ Too many. And you would think I didn't need to memorize it anymore... But I had missed it all too much. I wouldn't pass up a single opportunity to stare at that calculating, fearless, beautiful face...

"Yeah, we're almost there. Make sure everything's ready. We can't afford to waste any time," Derek spoke into the phone. His strong, angular face was all business.

The furrowing of his brow, the clench of his jaw...

A sharp turn he made threw my attention to his single hand on the wheel.

How he gripped it, how he controlled it so well, how his muscular arm moved...

Derek ended the call and put his phone back down, only to see me staring at him like a love struck teenage girl.

_Probably with goo-goo eyes and drool hanging from your bottom lip too._

I rolled my eyes at my inner thoughts and quickly turned my attention back to the sleepy, innocent town outside my window. We had driven for a while though, and I now found myself looking out at an unfamiliar area.

"Where are we headed, exactly...?" Tori asked, somehow reading my thoughts.

"That was Simon on the phone. He was making sure that he got the right spot to meet us... We should be getting there shortly," Derek answered.

"And where _is _this meeting spot?"

"Don't worry about it."

Tori arched one of her brows. "Alright then, let's see if you'll answer _this_ one: How do you know that 'they're coming'?"

"Well, I was taking a stroll through your neighborhood-" Derek started until he saw the look that I was giving him. "Okay, so I wasn't taking a stroll through your neighborhood.. I was sitting in the woods behind Tori's house, watching over everything, making sure you two were safe. Good thing I was there, because two guys came up and tried to break into the house. Knocked both of them out and dragged them into the woods.. Both were armed, and one of their walkie-talkies kept going off. Someone kept asking if they 'got the girls yet'. When no one replied, the same someone went 'We're sending back up'. With that said, I called Simon, told him what's going on and came up with a place to meet up at, and then went to go get the two of you."

Tori and I were silent for a few seconds.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that it's the Edison Group though," Tori said.

"If they were ordinary men with only the intentions of robbing your house, there would be no need for any walkie-talkies, and they had also been ordered to take the two of you. The Edison Group is the only explanation I can come up with," Derek concluded.

"What about my family?" Tori continued. "They said that they were sending back up, right? Well, what happens when that back up breaks into my house and finds that Chloe and I aren't there?"

Derek replied with, "The Edison Group doesn't have any intentions on harming your family or getting them involved in any way. All they're after are the subjects of their experiments. When they find that you and Chloe aren't there, they'll leave and move on to another plan until they find out where you are."

Tori pursed her lips, but left it at that. So did I.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Not too long after, Derek pulled the car into a parking lot of a night club. The night life was dying down, but the loud music could still be heard from inside the lit up building. We were surrounded by cars and people, which were mostly very intoxicated young adults hitching rides from cabs and friends.

Derek drove to the far end of the parking lot and parked next to a minivan, which looked very out of place, considering where we were. A blond guy- Simon- got out of the driver's seat, along with a short, chubby man, who I recognized as Sam Quincy, the man who Derek and Simon were staying with. A man walked around from the other side of a van; a man I had never seen before. He was middle-aged, but I could see that he was very handsome. Tall, although not quite as tall as Derek, and lean yet muscular. He was tan, as if he had spent most of his life out underneath the blazing sun, and had dark, caramel colored hair. His bright blue eyes looked very eager, and he had a face that oddly reminded me of Ryan Reynolds.

Derek got out of the car, with Tori and me quickly following his lead.

"You broke into my house, rushed us to pack our things, and took us on a forty minute excursion at almost five o'clock in the morning... to _meet up with Simon at a club_?"

Simon shot her a cheesy smile. "I haven't gotten a chance to go clubbing before. I hope they got strippers here."

"You-"

"We're not here for the club or the strippers," Derek's irritated voice cut Tori off from whatever she was about to respond with.

Derek's voice seemed to draw Simon back in to the seriousness of the situation we were in.

"Right," Simon said. "Well, Chloe, Tori.. this is Devin, the man who's been taking care of us since..."

Simon left the sentence hang in the air, which brought a gloomy look onto his face, but he quickly shook it off.

The handsome, middle-aged Ryan Reynolds- or, well, Devin- stepped forward and nodded at Tori and me. "Nice to finally meet y'all," Devin said with a southern twang and a friendly smile. His voice was a bit husky, and yet sounded like silky milk chocolate.. that is, if silky milk chocolate had a sound. "I've heard a lot about you two."

"Oh, I bet," Tori said with a raised brow.

Devin looked over at Derek and said, "Sam and I have decided that it would be best if you and Simon take the girls and run. You could head back to Tennessee if you want, just don't stay in one place for very long. I'll stay here with Sam and the other supernaturals in the area, and we'll research and find out where the reformed Edison Group is based, what other subjects they have found so far, and so forth. We need to figure out more about this group before we go on the offensive and face them head on, and it may take a while until we gather enough information that will be needed. We can't have the four of you here and basically out in the open for them. If they figured out where Tori lives, they probably know a whole lot more along with that."

The look on Derek's face said that he wasn't happy, and I knew why: he didn't want to be on the run, hiding and having no control on what was going on. He wanted to stay here, with Sam and Devin and the others, and research and have a good grasp on what was going on. I actually couldn't have agreed more with him.. but I knew that what Devin had said was the best decision for all of us.

Derek started, "I don't-"

"I think that's a good idea," I piped in before Derek could state his opinion. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that the four of us would much rather stay here and help out, but if we _do _stay, it's just going to cause more trouble. The best thing would be to go to where the Edison Group doesn't know where we are, and have Devin and the others stay and find out how we can put an end to this reformed Edison Group."

Derek looked over at me, his eyes searching for something. I could tell that the wheels in his head were working double-time.

"I agree with Chloe," I heard Simon say.

Both Derek and I turned our gazes from each other and to the blond guy who just spoke, who immediately raised his palms up as if he were surrendering. "What? I'm just saying," he said. "And Derek, I know you were totally about to go off and say that you were staying here, whether we liked it or not. But you're coming with me and the girls, bro."

Derek opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, his eyes narrowing and calculating.

"Oh, come on, can we get this show on the road already?" Tori finally spoke up, with her hands on her hips, on top of that.

Derek straightened up. "Alright, fine. Me and Simon will take Chloe and Tori and hide out for a bit. When you guys find out enough information though, you call us and let us know. We'll circle back and help take down this group once and for all."

As Derek said 'once and for all', I was taken back to all we've been through, all we've lost. Our friends, our family members.. particularly Aunt Lauren and Kit..

We had thought that when we destroyed the Edison Group years ago, that we were done with all of this. Then to find out that they had reformed and had come back to look for us.. It was like a slap in the face or being splashed with cold water, waking up from a short dream. The Edison Group had to be stopped once and for all.

"Sounds like a good plan," Sam spoke up for this first time we had been there.

"You four can take the van," Devin said. "Me and Sam'll take Derek's car back home and get rid of it, along with Simon's car, so that there's no way anyone could find any trace of you."

"_You're getting rid of my car? _But that's my baby!" Simon exclaimed.

Devin fought back a laugh. "We'll getcha a new one when ya get back, son."

I couldn't help but smile when Devin called Simon 'son'. It wasn't as if Kit had been replaced; that would be impossible to ever do. However, it was nice to know that Simon and Derek had found Devin and created a sort of a new family. The needed each other.

"Once we drive for a few more hours, we'll stop and get a different car, that way no one can trace the tag," Derek stated.

Sam and Devin nodded to show that they thought this was a good idea.

"Well, we better get a move on then," Devin said. "Can't waste the day away here."

With that said, we said our goodbyes to Sam and Devin. Tori and I thanked them and waved and then stood awkwardly to the side, letting Derek and Simon have their time, since they knew them so much better. Devin hugged both of the boys and said a few things to them that I couldn't make out. Devin then looked over at Tori and me and made his way over towards us. He reached out and hugged Tori, something neither of us was expecting, while Tori awkwardly stood there for a few seconds before she hugged him back. "The boys talked a lot about you two," he whispered as he stopped hugging Tori and started hugging me instead. "They've really really miss y'all. They feel so guilty about leaving y'all." He stepped back to look at each of us, and grabbed each of our hands. "You mean the world to them.. you really do. Both of you. I hope that I get the chance to one day get to know y'all too," he said with a genuine smile.

I was taken aback and wasn't quite sure as to what I should say. I smiled and was about to thank him when Simon patted Devin on the back and said, "It's time to go. Derek's getting impatient."

We looked over at the van to see Derek leaning up against it, checking his watch and tapping his foot.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

We had driven about ten miles, with Derek driving, Simon in the passenger seat, and Tori and me both in the seats behind them and looking out the windows, before Simon spoke up and said, "What was Devin saying to you guys before we left?"

Tori looked over at me, asking what we should say.

"He just said that he's glad he got to meet us and he looks forward to getting to know us," I spoke up.

Simon turned around in his seat to look at Tori and me. "Yeah, Devin's a real nice guy."

"He's a real nice-looking guy too," Tori said with a sly smile.

"Uh, gross? He's like, twice your age," Simon said as he rolled his eyes.

"But yeah, he gets that a lot. We can't go anywhere without him getting hit on," Derek said while keeping his eyes focused on the road.

"Same with me," Simon winked. "And Derek too. He's a real hunk," he said as he playfully punched Derek in the arm.

Derek scoffed.

I was surprised at how jealous I felt though. I didn't want anyone hitting on Derek...

I couldn't control it though. I mean, he _was _very attractive. He'd probably even had a few girlfriends since I'd seen him last. Maybe even hooked up with a girl a few times...

Tori coughed, and I looked over at her. She gave me a '_bitch, you-so-want-him' _look. I quickly looked away.

"Well, I'd love to stay up and chat with all of you," Tori said as she started climbing over the seat and into the back, "but I have some sleep to catch up on."

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt you to get a few more hours of beauty sleep. As a matter of fact, you can just sleep the rest of the drive. A good several hours would do you some good," Simon said.

The only response that came from Tori was one of her shoes being flung at him. Simon caught the shoe and then turned back around to face the road while he quietly laughed.

I turned around in my seat to find Tori laid out across the backseat, already drifting into Dreamland.

I figured she had the right idea, and decided to lay out across the middle row of seats as well. The last thing I saw before sleep pulled me under was a pair of green eyes watching me from the rearview mirror.

**Review please! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone. I'm back. Finally! First off, I would like to say thank you to all of you for your support. It means a lot. My state of mind is tons better now, and I've spent the last few months writing away, and that's definitely helped a lot. Second, this is the tenth chapter of my first fanfic ever, which has officially gotten over 100 reviews. This news makes me oh so happy (: I was really hesitant on starting this, and I've questioned many times if I should continue with the story, but everyone who's reviewed and story alerted and favorited the story and favorited me has just given me a total confidence booster. Thanks so much, and thank you for sticking with me!**

**oh and p.s.- I'm not sure if I've already said this before or not, but Tori and Simon are NOT related in this. Just to let y'all know (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing whatsoever. **

_Everywhere I ran, there were mirrors. Or at least, I'm pretty sure they were mirrors. Different kinds, too. The kinds of mirrors that one would find in a funhouse at a fair. The kinds of mirrors that could leave one very confused and frightened and on the brink of insanity. I hadn't reached that point yet, though. Or had I? _

_I had been running through this maze of distorted mirrors, looking for a way out of this dark, mind-bending place. I would turn and look and see an exit, running full speed towards freedom, only to find myself running into a wall or another mirror. My hope and drive were being drained away. Panic was wrapping around me, tighter and tighter.. _

I'm going to be strangled to death...

_At some point, I ran into another mirror, and instead of turning around and looking again, I just crumpled to the ground. Any hope I had was gone, and I started to rock myself back and forth while I sobbed. "Chloe..." a far-off voice called. I didn't want look to see who it was or where it was coming from. I didn't want to see another mirror. _

_"Chloe..." the voice said again. This time, I did manage to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was the mirror I had run into and was curled up in front of. It was shattered, cracked, leaving a bunch of tiny mirrors in the middle of it, looking like a spider wed. I also saw a girl. She was on the other side of the broken mirror. She was pretty, too, even though her face was wet and blotchy from crying and her hair was a mess. She had such beautiful, wavy, blonde hair. Oh, and she was so small. What could such a small, pretty girl like her be so upset and frightened about? And what would she be doing in a place like this?_

_"Chloe..." _

_I turned my head away from the girl to look around. All I saw was mirrors..._

_I returned my gaze to the girl and the broken mirror. She seemed to have heard the voice too, with her eyes searching the dark, confusing place around her. _

_"Chloe..."_

_It was then that a man's figure rounded a corner behind the girl. _

_"Chloe! There you are!" the man said as he started to run towards the girl. Her entire body fell with the relief of being found._

_The man dropped to his knees next to her, running his hands through her hair and caressing her face. "Oh, Chloe..." he whispered. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? I couldn't find you. Don't you ever disappear like that again, you hear me?"_

_The only response the girl gave was closing her eyes and looking totally at peace. "Derek..." she sighed. _

_"I know, I'm here. You're ok now. Let's get you out of here," Derek replied. He picked her up bridal style and walked back the way he came from. Disappearing.. Leaving me totally and utterly alone. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey slut butt, wake up!"

I was startled awake by Tori's unnecessary name calling.

"What?" I groggily moaned. I slowly took in my surroundings and realized that I was still laying in the van's middle row of seats, just as I had been before I fell asleep. Only this time, a dark headed witch was leaning over me and clearly inside of my personal space bubble. I also realized that we were the only ones in the van, it was daylight, and we were parked outside of a McDonald's.

"Ahh, Sleeping Beauty awakes! You slept the entire drive. Tossed and turned a lot too. Figured you were having a bad dream," Tori said.

"Well then why didn't you wake me up?"

"I figured you needed your sleep..." she said a bit more quietly. Oh, Tori. She really did mean well. At times it just came off as if she didn't care or that she had ulterior motives. Well, I suppose the latter was actually true at times.

"How long was I asleep, anyways?" I asked as I sat up and rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes.

"About nine or ten hours. Something like that," she shrugged. "We're far enough away to relax for the time being. Anyways, the guys are already inside getting food. Derek insisted we let you sleep, but I figured you wouldn't like that."

"You're right, I wouldn't. Thanks."

Tori gave a small smile in return. "No problem. Your girl's got your back," she said as she winked. She then sobered up a bit. "And since I got your back and everything, I figured you would want to know that you were mumbling stuff in your sleep.. Well, Derek's name, to be exact."

My mouth dropped. "_What?_"

"Yeah, I know. He heard, of course. You know, with his hearing and all. I don't think Simon heard though, 'cuz he was snoring away, louder than a fucking jet engine. But anyways, I know that you're going to say that we don't have time for this, we need to worry about the Edison Group and blah blah blah. And that's true. But for real, I know you have these feelings for Derek and I'm 99.9 percent sure he feels the same. We just need the two of you to talk and catch up and, you know... stuff like that."

I put my face in my hands and slowly shook my head. "Tori, I don't know..." I sighed. "This all seems so petty right now. I appreciate you trying to help, I guess, but I honestly don't think it's necessary."

"No, you just don't think it's worth it," she contradicted.

I dropped my hands and cocked my head. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ that you think it's been too long and that there was really nothing there in the first place and you're afraid of rejection and whatever else kind of shit that goes on in Chloe World," she blurted out.

She then took a breath and lowered her voice.

"I know you, Chloe. And I know that you've had your eye on Derek ever since we were teenagers. I also know that he's had his eye on you too. Why else would he not be a complete ass to you? Err, well, less of an ass than he is to most of everyone else. But your heart broke when he and Simon left, and I think that any idea you had of the two of you being together was gone. Then low and behold, he's back, looking like a steamy stud muffin with goo-goo eyes for our little necro." She paused again, trying to word her thoughts. "Look, the point I'm trying to make is that Derek hasn't lost any feelings for you at all. They've probably even gotten stronger. Hell, you heard the way Devin was talking to us about the guys. I know that a lot has been bothering you for a while, but I just want you to be happy. You've been a complete mess and I think that you'll be able to get over this depressed period of your life if you clear things up with him and get certain things off of your chest. Just.. talk to him, ok? Clear things up, sort things out."

I couldn't come up with any response or reaction to give Tori. It was one of the most heartfelt things she's ever said to me. We rarely if ever had any heart-to-heart conversations, let alone about our past or the guys, and I was not expecting her to get all touchy feely. Especially about Derek.

"Tori... I, I don't know what to say. But... t-thanks for uh, you know, caring and other stuff," I mumbled.

_Were we supposed to hug now?_

She rolled her eyes. "Well maybe you can stop whatever the hell has been bothering you and we could all actually get some sleep around here. Stop the crazy ass dreams. I'm personally sick of them myself."

I thought back to the strange mirror dream I had just had. "Oh, I am too. Trust me."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Walking in to the McDonald's, I was greeted by the smell of hot french-fries and greasy burgers. My stomach informed me in a loud grumble that it wanted about everything on the menu. Ironically, it looked like Simon and Derek had just about the entire menu on their trays. Burgers, cheeseburgers, Big Macs, fries, sundaes.. The whole works.

Tori and I sat down with the two of them in a corner booth, away from all of the other customers. We all dug in right away.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tori and I finished eating long before Simon and Derek did, and as soon as we were done, Tori spoke up and said, "So what's the plan? What do we do now?"

We all turned to look at Derek, him being the automatic leader of the group. He didn't give any sort of response until he was done chewing and swallowing his food, which was a good thing.

"Well, we don't really have any sort of plan we're supposed to be going through with," he said with a bite of sarcasm. "I guess we'll just roam the United States until we're needed back in New York."

"We could head back in the direction of Tennessee," Simon spoke up with a bit more optimism than Derek. "We could catch up with some people there that we haven't seen in a while. They might even be willing to help us."

"I hate saying this, but I agree with Blondie over there," Tori said. "It would give us some sort of destination in all of this, and we could use the extra help if we're going to be taking down the Edison Group."

I wanted to speak up and say that I agreed with that idea, but I felt a bit embarrassed being around Derek. I really hoped that he didn't remember me saying his name in my sleep... I even hoped that Tori was lying about that, but I knew Tori well enough by now that she wouldn't do such a thing. I felt my cheeks getting hot, and decided it was a good time to excuse myself to the bathroom.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

DPOV

The greasy fast-food gave me a bad reminder of what Simon and I went through right after our dad died. Countless hotels, cheap, unhealthy food, living on the run... By far the most depressing period of my life, which says a lot. The only reason I didn't end my life then was because of the people I had just driven in a ten hour car ride with. Simon needed me, and I promised myself that I would one day go back for the girls. I couldn't just leave them.. well, I guess I did... but I couldn't just leave them for good. I just felt that they would be a bit safer if I was alive, rather than.. not so alive.

All of the suicidal thoughts went away though as soon as I saw Chloe again after all of those years. She was alive, she was healthy, she was.. beautiful. I couldn't believe that I was actually in her presence again. All of those years, I had been imagining what it would be like to finally be reunited with her. I would stop being such a pussy and tell her how I really felt. However, that hadn't exactly happened yet...

But then again, it shouldn't be on the top of my list of things to do.. should it? I mean, we had far more important things going on. For instance, the Edison Group. However, the voice inside my head told me that we didn't have anything going on at the moment, and I should just tell her before things got hectic.

_But what about that guy she was with at the restaurant? _the other part of my mind said. _It would probably just make her feel totally uncomfortable if I told her how I really felt while she was in a relationship with someone else. _

I couldn't help but think about her saying my name in her sleep though. I _had _heard her clearly, and she definitely said _my _name, not some other guys'.

_What did that mean?_

Maybe she had feelings for me.. or maybe she just randomly said my name.. or maybe she was trying to tell me to get away from her.

It could mean anything, so I really shouldn't let it get to me.. right?

_Why am I letting it get to me?_

"Better shield yourselves. I've got a supernatural belch coming on," Simon announced after we had finished eating our food and were waiting for Chloe to get out of the bathroom.

"Could you be any more gross?" Tori asked from the opposite side of the booth we were sitting in.

"Yeah, I could. I could have a supernatural belch right in your face, like this," Simon said as he put both hands on either side of Tori's face and held her still while he let out a long, gaseous release.

Tori let out a short scream and a few curses, and then gave a few kicks underneath the table.

"You fu-" she began.

"Woah guys, calm down. We don't want to cause a scene now, do we?" Chloe said as she appeared out of nowhere. She was looking towards Tori and Simon, but her eyes kept darting back to me.

_It's like she can read my mind. It's like she knows how much I think about her. _

"Tell that to the creep over there," Tori replied as she nodded towards Simon.

Simon laughed as Chloe slid in next to a glowering Tori so that she was directly across from me.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CPOV

"So, are we ready to go?" I asked as I sat back down in the booth.. right across from Derek.. and he was staring right at me.

_Oh God, please stop staring. It makes me feel like you can read my mind._

"Not anymore," Simon said as he stared at two blonde twins around our age who walked in the door. "I think I'd like to stay a bit longer."

"Again: you're a creep," Tori commented.

"How am I a creep? There's two very attractive women within a relatively close proximity to me. It's natural for a guy to want to sit and stare, or even try to get their numbers. Right, Derek?"

"Wait, what?" Derek responded. He had apparently not caught what was being said since he had continued to stare at me.

"Dude, wake up. Two hot twins at 12 o'clock."

Derek rolled his eyes, which caused Simon's mouth to drop.

"Are you not a man?" Simon asked in disbelief. "Any man with manly urges and fantasies would not roll his eyes at two hot twins."

"It's ok, Simon. Derek's just too busy fantasizing about Chloe to even think about any twins," Tori piped up.

_She did not just say that._

Derek's mouth dropped as his face turned beet red.

"I- Wha- Uh-.." Derek began to stammer.

_She totally did not just say that._

Simon whistled. "Derek, you dog!"

_Get me out of here. _

"I gotta go to the bathroom," I said as I ran away from that booth as fast as I could.

**Sooo, what did you think? Review please!**

**Oh, and Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanza/whatever holiday you celebrate! And happy early new year! (:**


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